Page 52 of V for Vilified (Hunter V #4)

Plowable Hottie Roster

I tried to speak, but the Fae god swooped in too quickly. Our mouths clashed and he lifted me like a ragdoll to bring me closer. His powerful tongue stroked the seam of my lips, then slipped inside, and I forgot where I was for a second.

I kissed him back, unaccustomed to wanting it without the Season manipulating my thoughts. The urges were gone, and so was my excuse. I kissed him because I wanted to.

Fuck.

It was several minutes before my head started to work again. I pushed on his massive chest, but the bastard wouldn’t budge. I raged, but my stupid body was living for every stroke of his mouth. I might be a monster, but he was a fucking god, and his kiss proved it.

When he finally pulled away enough for me to speak, his thoughts and emotions were a discombobulated mess. I couldn’t tell any of them apart. “I was truly worried I’d lose you before I had you, Nioche .”

“Yeah, well, I have a knack for surviving,” was my mumbled reply. “It’s sort of a skill of mine.”

“It appears so,” he said with another brush of his lips, the rich tenor of his laughter putting winged beasts inside my stomach.

It was odd to be barely a room away from everyone and in the arms of my enemy.

Or the guy who was supposed to be my enemy, anyway.

I didn’t know anymore. The last few events had been a whirlwind.

To be fair, ever since Phillip showed up, my life was one fucked up moment to the next. It’d become the new norm.

“And everyone came out of it okay? Didn’t your brothers take a few hits?” I asked, feeling oddly childlike dangling over the floor. But being manhandled was the least of my worries right now.

I was flooded with his affection for me and a never-ending stream of fantasies of getting me alone and naked on the bed two feet away from us.

It nearly drove me to violence. Or sex. Or both.

I couldn’t blame the Season anymore, not at least while back in my realm, so I wasn’t too sure at this point.

I was hot and bothered, but what I hoped was mostly bothered.

“They were here for the first week, but our bond exposed a problem in need of fixing, so they returned to ensure it was done,” Aram explained to my continued confusion.

First week? How long had I been out?

With too many things to address, I stuck with the basics. “A problem? Our bond? What gobbledygook are you spouting, Aram?”

His confusion radiated inside my head, and it was a source of pride for me that he didn’t have a fucking clue what language I was speaking.

“The enslavement of humans, of course. And yes, our bond. It fully formed when we fought Hera. I’m now privy to a thought or two of yours here and there, though I’m afraid not to the extent you are mine. ”

Thank fuck for that. A girl needed her privacy, or shit was about to be awkward and extra complicated.

“Oh.” I really didn’t know what else to say until I realized what he’d said. “Wait, human enslavement?”

“You were right to bring attention to it. I’d been rather removed from what the Fae did to the humans in my realm, and my brothers have returned to set it right in my place. Consider it a bonding gift.”

Oh, right. The end of human enslavement was a totally normal gift to give someone. I couldn’t even with these weird supernatural monsters.

“Right…” At least that was one problem solved. “Thanks.” I glanced at the floor, still several feet below me. “Do you mind, uh, putting me down?”

His radiant smile nearly blinded me as he set me on the floor. “Apologies, Nioche .”

I had to crank my neck to look at the giant beast in front of me, whose wings were tucked away wherever he put them when he didn’t want them to be seen. “So, when will you go back?”

“Go back?” he parroted.

“To your realm.”

His confusion was intense. He couldn’t fathom a reason I’d ask. “I thought you preferred this realm, but if that’s the case, then I’m happy to—”

“I do prefer it, but I thought…you’re a king and this bond doesn’t mean anything. I’m okay now, so you don’t have to stay here.”

His rage made my head pound. “That’s where you’re wrong, little mate.

This bond is everything. You’re my perfect match, my fate, my entire world, and nothing and no one can convince me otherwise.

Even that traitorous bastard in the other room couldn’t refute my claim. Where you are is where I’ll be.”

I couldn’t pretend to understand bonds or their impact on the Fae, but by the way they talked about them, it seemed they were pretty important.

I’d be lying if I didn’t feel attached to him.

I’d been relieved to see Aram when I woke up, though I’d argue it was because I felt indebted to him.

He had helped me save everyone from Hera.

But I’d also immediately searched my connection for Cash and Jo, noting both marks still there.

So, clearly, these bonds meant something.

I was attached to them in ways I wasn’t with anyone else.

“But you have a kingdom to run,” I countered, rubbing circles into my temple. I needed a cup of coffee. It was impossible to think straight and argue with a giant Fae under these conditions.

Aram put a finger under my chin and forced me to look at him. “And I remember telling you that you are my kingdom, V. You were right, the realm needs a guiding hand and not another terrifying ruler. We haven’t been any better than the Originals, and that needs to change.”

I blinked at him, still not following. “I don’t want to rule a realm, Aram. I want to live my life here with everyone I care about.”

“Then you will,” he agreed a little too quickly.

“So…you’ll go back—”

“My brothers will handle the realm without me. I’ll aid them in all the ways I can, but I’ll stay here with you. If this is where you most want to be, then it’s where I’ll be as well.”

Words failed me. I struggled to speak for nearly a minute.

I thought a god like him would want to remain where he felt the most comfortable—where he had power and influence.

He’d practically be nobody here. I thought for sure he’d demand I go back with him after we killed Hera.

I didn’t expect him to say he’d stay. I didn’t expect he’d put what I wanted first when it wouldn’t take much to force my hand again.

“Stay here…” I trailed. “With me.”

“Yes,” he said as finitely as he had his previous statement.

“But the others…”

He leaned all the way down, his mouth hovering close to mine. “You care for them. I can see how deeply without reading your mind, V. Your happiness supersedes any feelings I might have about it. Whatever you desire I’ll give you. It’s a small price to pay.”

He went from “I don’t share” to “It’s a party, let’s invite everyone” a little too fast for my taste. I stared at him like I would any manipulative piece of shit, only I had full access to this one’s thoughts and emotions.

As if reading that thought in my head—which maybe he had—he kissed me hard enough to seal his promise. Normally it wasn’t this easy to read him, but it was as if he wanted me to see everything in his head. As if he’d opened his mind up deliberately.

He genuinely wanted me happy, and it didn’t matter what it took to achieve it. Aram never wanted to be the reason I was hurt again. The emotion was so powerful it affected my own. I became as confident as he was. I no longer wanted to fight him on it. Instead, I became resolved to what it meant.

“This is going to be such a headache to explain,” I mumbled petulantly, putting distance between me and the god, who, as of this auspicious moment, was the newest member of my already huge roster of plowable hotties.

I’d never sleep again.

“You might find it less of an issue than you imagined. I’ve been very dedicated to that particular task for the last three weeks.” His unfaltering confidence in everything he said was both inside my head and his face-splitting grin.

“Three weeks?!”

Fuck, I’d been out a long time. No wonder Jo said they’d been trouble. A supernatural monster like me unconscious for that long probably made them think I’d never wake up.

Aram ran his hand over my head—something he’d done enough times to make it a habit at this point. “I suppose I must permit you to reunite with them. It’d be rather un-Yoda-like of me not to.”

I burst out into giggles, blindsided by the comment, and he beamed with pride. “Yeah, that wouldn’t be very Jedi Master of you.”

“Come, little mate. Let me show you how amenable your group of companions are after I fought Hera by their side and healed you when no one else could. I think you might find that even the possessive tattooed one is docile in my presence.”

That’d be a sight to see, even if I didn’t believe it for a goddamn second.

“You better not have coerced them into it,” I said with a distrustful glance.

His laughter was as unexpected as mine had been. “I’m the world’s most dangerous predator, V. Everything about me invites you in. As if I would need any of that…”

I gawked openly at him. “Did you just quote Twilight to me, you oversized Fae menace?”

The plot dropping continues…

With a wink, he led me to the door. “I’ve been alive long enough to know how to coax a proud bastard or two. It’s no challenge when it’s done in my feisty mate’s name. And I respect how protective they are of you. They proved strong and capable in the fight with Hera, and for that, I am grateful.”

“Why does that worry me more?” I sassed.

He chuckled again and brushed his long hair back.

We entered the living room, and I was immediately surrounded by everyone.

True to his word, Aram wasn’t met with glares and death threats.

Even Cash gave him a nod of greeting. Whatever happened over the last three weeks, it’d convinced everyone Aram was on my side, because none of them seemed bothered to see his arm around my waist.